In order to increase fuel economy, automotive design has recently concentrated on reducing weight as well as reducing the size of various components, including the power drive train. One improvement has resulted in the auxiliary drives being removed from the front of an engine and being driven via a transmission accessory drive. This has allowed a reduction in the overall length of the power train as these auxiliary drives are now driven via a transmission take-off.
It would be desirable to provide a further reduction in the length of the power train. It would also be desirable to provide a reduced axial length harmonic balancer that can be used in connection with various drive shafts where torque undulations from the input side can be absorbed or otherwise addressed in order to reduce torque fluctuations on the output side.